WASHINGTON — Former Michigan Congressman Mike Rogers received the endorsement of the FBI Agents Association on Saturday to be the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FBIAA President Thomas F. O’Connor said Rogers’ background as a Special Agent, veteran of the armed forces and former member of Congress “sets him apart.”

“Chairman Rogers exemplifies the principles that should be possessed by the next FBI Director,” O’Connor said in a statement.

“Rogers’ unique and diverse experience will allow him to effectively lead the men and women of the Bureau as we work to protect our country from criminal and terrorist threats.”

The association represents more than 13,000 active duty and retired agents.

Rogers is the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. The Howell Republican served Michigan in Congress for more than a decade before stepping down in 2015.

Rogers worked for the FBI as a special agent based in Chicago in the 1990s and briefly advised Trump’s transition team on national security issues.

His name was floated as a possible replacement for then-FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2013, and he received support from an association of FBI agents before President Barack Obama chose Comey.

Rogers is said to be one of 11 candidates under consideration as a permanent replacement for Comey.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that “we can make a fast decision” on a new FBI director, possibly by late next week, before he leaves on his first foreign trip since taking office.

“Even that is possible,” Trump told reporters when asked whether he could announce his nominee by Friday, when he is scheduled to leave for the Mideast and Europe.

At least six candidates to be the bureau’s director were in line Saturday for the first interviews with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, at Justice Department headquarters, but Rogers was not believed to be among them.